iron man

Iron Man

You are either going to see this or you aren't. It doesn't matter what I say about it - well, I know that no matter what I heard, reviews I read, I would go see it! So, take this review with a pinch of salt. It won't change your mind, one way or another (mainly because my reviews are fairly poor!).

I liked it. Didn't love it, liked it.

Robert Downey is wonderful. He carries the whole film, acts everyone else of the screen. And therein lies the main problem.

The plot isn't as good as Robert Downey. I'm a comic geek and, it appears a bigger geek than I thought. There were plot holes, characterisations, that were missing from the film. This was annoying to Maria. In discussion with her, after, she didn't really feel the motivation behind the character. Oh, thanks to Downey's acting (and a love of Mr. Downey), she felt she understood what the character was going through but...but the whole playboy sub-plot didn't work for her. Nor did the time spent in captivity. Nor did the villain. Nor did Tony Stark's brilliance. In fact, although she insists she enjoyed the film, take out Robert Downey and Maria would have hated the whole thing.

The other actors aren't as good as Robert Downey. I have no idea what Gwyneth Paltrow was doing in this film, acting-wise. She is far, far better than this. It was like she had turned up to do the voice-over for the cartoon and had no idea what to do with her body. There was no sexual-tension between her character and Tony Stark - and that is what they were going for! Hell, Gwyneth Paltrow is beautiful, Robert Downey is beautiful. two beautiful people who have "unspoken desires" for each other. Both of them should have found some spark, somewhere but Ms. Paltrow was in a cartoon. Jeff Bridges has the ability to be a bastard. He is weird enough, he is removed enough, he is capable of being a great villain. But the script was all over the place and there was not enough script for him. And please don't get me started with Terence Howard. This man had second billing, above Bridges and Paltrow, and should have had billing under third-robot-with-fire-extinguisher, who acted him off the screen.

The audience was brilliant. Thank god I didn't see this film at home, on my own. I think this was probably the best film-going audience I have ever shared a film with. In fact, go read one of their reviews - they loved the film. They laughed at the right places (and, more importantly, at the right time). They ahh-ed at the right moments. They loved the film and didn't spoil anyone's enjoyment, they became a really active part, making it a better film. Yeah to the audience.

The effects were...well, go see Transformers if you want robot action.

I'm glad I saw the film, I'm really glad I saw the film with that audience, I loved Robert Downey, I hated the script, I hated every other actor. On average - I liked the film but I won't be watching it again. The good news - Robert Downey is back! This should get him bigger films. The bad news - there is going to be a sequel.

Comments

[Vanessa]

Was it you who sent me 'Stardust'? I love the movie of that. But the star was one role that really should have been Paltrow.

[(S)wine]

i must be jaded, but from the trailers this looks like the venerable piece of shite Hollywood always puts out during the summers. but then again, i'm not a comic book/graphic novel fan. i am a fan of downey's however, but will definitely skip this one. oh, and paltrow's in it? the horror! the horror! sorry.